The Essentials
After getting the stance nailed and the truck handling properly, it was time to turn our attention to the cosmetics and creature comforts of the '73 Chevy C10. Part of the reason Mike originally bought this truck was because it was cheap, which meant that it was trashed. That's to be expected when you pay a thousand bucks for a 37-year-old truck. When dealing with an older truck, there are certain things that will either take too long to bring back to its original state or that just can't be fixed. Rubber seals dry rot, sheetmetal rusts, parts get lost etc. Lucky for us gearheads there is Classic Industries. Classic Industries has been offering restoration parts for cars and trucks for as long as we can remember.
Obviously Mike's truck needed all kinds of resto parts and a few maintenance things done to it just to be nice enough to drive around town, let alone across the country. We grabbed a Classic Industries catalog and started writing down all of the part numbers we needed. We were surprised to find out that everything we wanted, except for the cowl hood, was in stock and ready to be picked up the next day. We drove over and filled the bed full of goodies and had a new bedside shipped directly to the body shop in Texas so that it would be there waiting for us when we arrived.
All of the stuff covered here is what Mike and I did at my little shop before we hit the road. We hung the new sheetmetal, converted some rust, installed some HushMat, and restored the interior in just a few days time. These easy-to-do mods are essential to a daily driver and if your truck needs to be returned to showroom new, give Classic a call for a host of quality parts.
Once we got all the goodies...
Once we got all the goodies back to the shop, we strapped the truck up on the lift and started cutting off the rear bumper. That's right I said cutting off, that's because the previous owner decided to weld the trailer hitch and bumper to the frame. Mike used a plasma cutter to cut away the 1/4-inch plate that attached the bumper and homemade trailer hitch to the rear framerails.
After we assembled the brackets...
After we assembled the brackets and license plate box, the bumper went on without a hitch, pun intended. All the new parts from Classic fit perfectly and the chrome on the bumper was better than expected.
To bring the interior back...
To bring the interior back up to speed, we picked up a new dash pad, filler piece, and A/C vents.
These parts are very hard...
These parts are very hard to restore so new ones save a lot of time. The dash is not some plastic cap, it's a factory-style piece with the proper grain molded-in.
The vents and filler pieces...
The vents and filler pieces will be the perfect companion to the new dash pad and will round out the newness.
There are a few clips that...
There are a few clips that run along the front edge of the dash pad that must be transferred from the factory piece. The new pad has the proper slots precut so they just snap into place.
The filler piece fits into...
The filler piece fits into a recess in the dash pad first, and then the AC vents will follow right behind. The AC vents fit into plastic housings that are separated by removing a few screws, nothing too exotic here.
With the pad assembled it...
With the pad assembled it is installed in the truck by snapping the clips along the front edge and pushing down and forward at the same time. After that, it just takes a few new screws to hold it in place.
The old headlight switch flat...
The old headlight switch flat out didn't work. Mike tested the wires and found that the old switch was the problem. A new knob was also added to complete the look of a fully restored dash. The new unit was a perfect duplicate of the factory piece and has the same plug style for a no hassle install. Once plugged in, the small retaining nut was tightened up (he also made sure to line up the little tab into the slot on the dash).